My Furry Valentine

Enjoy a fun day for the whole family and maybe even adopt a four-legged friend while you're there. That's the idea behind the annual My Furry Valentine event, which aims to adopt out hundreds of pets at their next event. Read on for more about the event that's sure to have tails wagging.

My Furry Valentine is a weekend-long adoption event that brings together thousands of adopters and hundreds of adoptees.

Throughout the last five years, My Furry Valentine has become the largest pet adoption event in Greater Cincinnati. Founded by Carolyn Evans, who also owns the business phoDOGrapher, My Furry Valentine was started as a way to help Cincinnati’s rescue community find homes for all the animals they rescue.

“With the goal of finding forever homes for Cincinnati’s homeless animals, we continued to grow each year, facilitating the adoption of nearly 3,000 companion animals in our five-year history,” says Evans.

The adoption event, which is held each February, draws thousands of attendees and leads to several hundred adoptions. In fact, says Evans, the 2016 My Furry Valentine event attracted a total of 13,600 attendees, leading to the adoption of 813 animals.

Evans has long been an advocate of adoption, stating that approximately 7 million dogs and cats enter shelters nationwide each year, and nearly 3 million don’t make it out alive.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” she says. “An estimated 17 million people will add a new pet to their families this year. If more of them would choose to adopt a pet, instead of buying one from a pet store, a breeder, or online, we could significantly reduce the number of animals killed in shelters.”

As the My Furry Valentine event gets bigger each year, and her passion to find shelter and rescue animals a new home never dwindles, she aims to make each year bigger than the last.

Potential pet parents can help local homeless animals find their forever home at My Furry Valentine.

The 2018 My Furry Valentine event will be held at the Sharonville Convention Center.

“This year’s main event will feature hundreds of adoptable pets, including dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, and other small critters, from dozens of different rescue and shelter groups from around the Greater Cincinnati area,” says Evans. “Adoptable animals are gathered at a centralized location under one roof to make it easier to find your perfect pet!”

If you’re interested in putting the event on your calendar now, My Furry Valentine will be held February 10 and 11, 2018. The event will run from 12 pm to 5 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday. General admission (for those ages 5 and up) is $5 per person. However, you can purchase early bird tickets: $25 for one or $40 for two.

With several rescues and shelters participating in the event, Evans put together a list of those who are participating so that you can check their sites in the days leading up to My Furry Valentine to see who will be there and available for adoption, which you can see by clicking here.

In addition to the rescues and shelters you’ll find at My Furry Valentine, there are also a number of vendors from groomers to doggy daycares and so much more. You can see a list of 2018 vendors here.

Because My Furry Valentine is a non-profit organization, it relies heavily on volunteers and donations to put on the event each year. There are several opportunities for local businesses to become a part of the event, including animal sponsorships, vendor booths, and more. To learn more about opportunities for businesses, click here.

My Furry Valentine is also in search of monetary donations. “The support of our generous donors has helped make My Furry Valentine Cincinnati’s most anticipated adoption event,” says Evans. “When it comes to monetary donations, every little bit helps and your financial support makes it possible for thousands of potential adopters to meet and adopt homeless animals.”

Over 13,000 people attended last year’s My Furry Valentine event and over 800 animals were adopted.

Those who may not be able to make a monetary donation can also support My Furry Valentine by donating goods or services for the adopter grand prizes and visitor raffles and by donating items for the adoption swag bags.

Every pet that is adopted from the event will go home with swag and the adopters can enter to win one of the adopter raffle baskets. Evans encourages people to keep their owned pets at home, but a meet-and-greet between your current pet and potential adoptee can be scheduled with the specific rescue or shelter the animal is being housed in.

Evans says that those who cannot make the main event should check out one of the satellite events that are also hosted throughout the weekend of My Furry Valentine.

Editor & Director of Strategic Communications - Sara is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with a bachelor's degree in English literature. Sara started as an editorial intern before working her way up to assistant editor and then editor. She also serves as the Director of Strategic Communications, running Cincy Chic's social media sites. When she's not working for Cincy Chic, Sara is a mom to her toddler, Audrey. To contact Sara, send her an email at selliott@cincychic.com.